Systems and methods for quality of experience driven in-transport communications

ABSTRACT

Approaches are described for providing quality of experience (QoE) driven in-transport communications services. For example, in-transit communications services are provided over a network to content consumption devices on one or more transport craft. During a measurement window, delivery of the in-transit communications services can be measured to obtain network-level delivery (NLD) measurements, and consumption of the in-transit communications services by one or more of the content consumption devices can be measured to obtain customer-level consumption (CLC) measurements. The NLD and CLC measurements can be used to compute a QoE score that indicates a delivered quality of service as perceived by one or more passengers of the one or more transport craft. The QoE score can be used to update stored service level data. The update can cause generation of one or more service level triggers, which can trigger automatic remedial action to address QoE-related conditions.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/718,126, filed on Apr. 11, 2022, titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORQUALITY OF EXPERIENCE DRIVEN IN-TRANSPORT COMMUNICATIONS”, which is aContinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/953,076, filed on Nov. 19,2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,323,781, which is a Continuation of U.S. Ser.No. 16/146,673, filed Sep. 28, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,880,616, theentirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments relate generally to communications systems, and, moreparticularly, to providing quality of experience driven communicationsservices to in-transit transport craft via communications systems.

BACKGROUND

Residential or business customers of communications and content servicestypically enter into relatively long-term (e.g., monthly, yearly, etc.)contractual relationships with providers of those services, such as withInternet service providers, television service providers, over-the-topmedia service providers, and others. Those customers generally expect acertain contracted level of service; and when those customers experiencean undesirable level of service, they are often motivated to contact theservice provider to report the undesirable level of service. Forexample, frustrated customers can be likely to contact their Internetservice provider whenever there is a service outage, an appreciableslow-down, configuration issues, etc. To help ensure a desirableexperience for their customers, such service providers typicallyencourage their customers to report issues and work to address thoseissues in a timely fashion.

It is becoming more common for users to desire to consume communicationsresources (e.g., for streaming media, email, Internet, etc.) while intransit on a transport craft. For example, passengers may bring mobilephones, laptop computers, tablet computers, integrated media terminals,and/or other in-transport terminals while travelling by car, airplane,bus, train, cruise ship, or other transport craft. In many cases, someor all of the communications services are provided to the passengers viaa remote network (e.g., Internet) in communication with the transportcraft. In such cases, there is often contractual relationship between acommunications provider and the transportation provider that operatesthe transport craft. To help ensure a particular level of service isbeing provided by the communications provider, some such providers tendperiodically to check that their services are available for a percentageof time and/or are satisfying some contracted data rate threshold.

While there is often a relatively long-term contractual relationshipbetween the communications provider and the transportation provider,there may only be a relatively short-term relationship between thecommunications provider and the passengers. For example, a passenger ofan airline may only use that airline's Internet service for part of theduration of a single flight. During that time, though the service may betechnically available and providing at least a minimum data rate to theairplane, the passenger may still experience poor, or no, service for anumber of reasons. As such, both the transportation providers and thecommunications providers may have an incomplete understanding of endusers' experiences, which can tend to frustrate the ability of thoseproviders to become aware of, and to properly address, issues arisingwith regard to those end users' experiences.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Among other things, systems and methods are described for providingquality of experience (QoE) driven in-transport communications services.For example, in-transit communications services are provided over anetwork to content consumption devices on one or more transport craft.During a measurement window, delivery of the in-transit communicationsservices can be measured to obtain network-level delivery (NLD)measurements, and consumption of the in-transit communications servicesby one or more of the content consumption devices can be measured toobtain customer-level consumption (CLC) measurements. The NLD and CLCmeasurements can be used to compute a QoE score that indicates adelivered quality of service as perceived by one or more passengers ofthe one or more transport craft. The QoE score can be used to updatestored service level data. The update can cause generation of one ormore service level triggers, which can trigger automatic remedial actionto address QoE-related conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the appendedfigures:

FIG. 1 shows a simplified diagram of a satellite communications system,which provides a context for various embodiments;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative communications system for deliveringin-transport communications services in which measurement and scoringcomponents are primarily disposed in provider-side network nodes,according to various embodiments;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative communications system for deliveringin-transport communications services, in which measurement and scoringcomponents are primarily disposed in transport craft, according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative communications system for deliveringin-transport communications services, in which measurement componentsare primarily disposed in transport craft and scoring components areprimarily disposed in provider-side network nodes, according to variousembodiments; and

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of an illustrative method for deliveringin-transport media services, according to various embodiments.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features can have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type canbe distinguished by following the reference label by a second label thatdistinguishes among the similar components. If only the first referencelabel is used in the specification, the description is applicable to anyone of the similar components having the same first reference labelirrespective of the second reference label.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, onehaving ordinary skill in the art should recognize that the invention canbe practiced without these specific details. In some instances,circuits, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail toavoid obscuring the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a simplified diagram of a satellite communications system100, which provides a context for various embodiments. The satellitecommunications system 100 generally facilitates delivery of on-boardcontent from one or more content sources to multiple transport craft 110according to release-time based prioritization, as described herein. Forexample, a passenger aircraft can have an on-board system to providein-transit communications services (e.g., in-flight entertainment,in-flight Internet connectivity, etc.) to passengers via in-seat,personal mobile, or other devices. While the passenger aircraft is inflight, its on-board system can be in communication with one or morecarriers of the satellite communications system 100, by which thein-transit communications services can be delivered to the passengers.

The transport craft 110 and transport-related services can be providedto passengers by a transportation provider, such as an airline company;and the transportation provider can desire to provide a positiveexperience to its passengers with respect to in-transit communicationsservices. To engender a positive passenger experience, transportationproviders may seek to ensure that in-transit communications services aredelivered to passengers at least with a desired level of availability(e.g., with little to no network downtime or other experienced losses ofservice), at a desired data rate (e.g., high enough throughput,bandwidth, etc. to support passenger uses), and with a desired level ofaccessibility (e.g., appropriate pricing, support for differentapplications and/or device types, etc.). The in-transit communicationsservices can be provided by a communications provider, such as asatellite communications company, which can provide and operate some orall components of a provider network through which the in-transitcommunications services are provided. In some cases, the communicationsprovider is wholly or partially affiliated with the transportationprovider. In other cases, the communications provider is separate fromthe transportation provider. In such cases, a transportation providercan ensure a desirable passenger experience through contractualrelationships with the communications provider.

Conventionally, ensuring a desirable passenger experience has tended toinvolve obligating the communications provider only to periodicallycheck that their services are available for at least some contractedpercentage of time and/or are satisfying some contracted data ratethreshold. However, such periodic checks tend not to accurately reflectwhether a desirable level of service is being provided to the end users(e.g., the passengers). For example, even though an objectivemeasurement may indicate that the network on a particular aircraftflight at a particular time is available and is providing at least aminimum level of data rate, some other issue may cause some or allpassengers on the flight to be having trouble connecting to the network,using certain applications, or otherwise having an undesirable passengerexperience. Often, in such instances, in-transport crew members may havelittle opportunity or ability to address the issue, passengers may havelittle motivation to report the issue, and/or it may be difficult todetermine any causes or remedies for the issue when it is reported(e.g., because the reporting individual has an incomplete understandingof the issue, because it may be impractical for technicians to debug theissue after the fact, etc.).

Embodiments described herein provide novel approaches to maintaining adesired quality of experience (QoE) with respect to deliveringin-transit communications services. For example, components of theprovider network are used to obtain network-level delivery (NLD)measurements and customer-level consumption (CLC) measurements over ameasurement time window while in-transit communications services arebeing provided. A QoE score can be computed as a function (e.g., aweighted average, etc.) of the NLD measurements and the CLCmeasurements, and those measurements can be based on both objective andsubjective metrics. The computed QoE score can indicate, in real time, adelivered quality of service (QoS) as perceived by one or morepassengers of one or more transport craft. In some embodiments the QoEscore can be used automatically to generate one or more service-leveltriggers, which can cause performance of one or more automated triggerresponse actions to at least partially address detected changes in QoE,as desired.

Embodiments can use many different types of metrics in many differentways. The NLD measurements generally include objective measurementsindicating the network's effectiveness in delivering the in-transitcommunications services (e.g., irrespective of whether or how thosedelivered services are consumed by one or more passengers). The NLDmeasurements can be obtained at various levels, for example, across anentire network, across a sub-network, across one or more links of anetwork, etc. The CLC measurements generally include subjectivemeasurements (and may also include objective measurements) indicatingpassengers' effectiveness in consuming the in-transit communicationsservices. The CLC measurements can also be obtained at various levels,for example, for each individual passenger or for large or small groupsof passengers, for one or more simulated content consumption devices,etc. The two types of measurements can reflect in different ways on acomputed QoE. For example, although in-transit communications servicesare objectively being made available to a particular passenger (e.g.,according to the NLD measurements), the CLC measurements may indicatethat one or more passenger content consumption devices is experiencingdifficulty due to poor wireless reception (or a poor wired interface) atthe passenger's seat, technical limitations of the device, and/or forother reasons. Further, though certain CLC measurements may beobjectively measured (e.g., by a passenger content consumption device ora simulated content consumption device), the objective measurement maybe combined with, and or may contribute to, a subjective portion of aQoE score computation. For example, a CLC measurement may include anobjective measure of a number of video buffering events over ameasurement time window, which may be compared with a threshold numberof video buffering events as part of computing the QoE score and/or aspart of outputting a service level trigger (discussed below); and thethreshold number of video buffering events may have been determined bysubjectively measuring what number of video buffering events tends tohave a negative impact on delivered QoS as perceived by passengers.

Depending on the particular metrics used, one or more types of QoE scorecan be computed and/or used for generating service-level triggers. Insome implementations, a general QoE score is computed to indicate anoverall perception of delivered QoS. In other implementations, a webbrowsing QoE score is computed to indicate a perception of delivered QoSin relation to using the in-transit communications services for normalweb browsing behaviors. In some implementations, a video streaming QoEscore is computed to indicate a perception of delivered QoS in relationto using the in-transit communications services for video streamingbehaviors. Other implementations can compute other types of QoE scoresto indicate a perception of delivered QoS in relation to using thein-transit communications services for other types of behaviors. Any ofthese types of QoE scores can be computed with respect to one or morepassengers, one or more transport craft, one or more measurement timewindows, and/or other suitable parameters.

These and other features can be provided using components of theprovider network. As used herein, the provider network can include someor all of provider-side components, craft-side components, and providernetwork to communicatively couple the provider-side components with thecraft-side components. The provider-side components can include one ormore gateway terminals 150 and provider-side network nodes 245. In somecases, the provider-side components can also include one or more contentnetworks 160, one or more content servers 180, and/or any other suitablecomponents disposed remote from the transport craft 110. The craft-sidecomponents can include an on-board communication system 112, which canhave an in-transit terminal 230 with any other suitablecommunications-related components disposed on the transport craft 110.The provider network can include communications links (e.g., satellitecommunications links 135), relays (e.g., satellites 105), and/or otherany other suitable components disposed between the transport craft andthe provider-side components.

The illustrated embodiment shows a transport craft 110 in communicationwith one or more content servers 180 via a satellite 105, one or moreprovider-side network nodes 245 (e.g., a gateway, core node, etc.), anda content network 160. While the communications system 100 isillustrated with the transport craft 110 as a single aircraft incommunication with a satellite 105 via a spot beam 135, suchillustration is not intended to be limiting, and embodiments can operatein many different contexts. For example, the communications system 100can include one or more transport craft(s) 110 (e.g., airplanes, trains,buses, blimps, cruise ships, etc.) communicating via any one or moresuitable communications architecture(s), including any suitablecommunications links, such as satellite communications systems,air-to-ground communication systems, hybrid satellite and air-to-groundcommunications systems, cellular communications systems, etc.

Typically, because of the mobile nature of the transport craft 110, thecommunications architecture will likely involve at least one wirelesscommunications link. In some embodiments, the transport craft(s) 110 canbe in communication with communications systems having multiplecarriers. The term “carrier” is used generally to include a wirelesscommunications link by which one or more transport craft 110 and/orcontent consumption devices 120 can be serviced, such as a spot beam 135of a satellite communications system (e.g., servicing a particular spotbeam coverage area), a particular carrier frequency band and/orpolarization within a spot beam of a satellite communications system(e.g., servicing some or all terminals in a particular spot beamcoverage area), a cellular carrier frequency band (e.g., servicingcellular terminals in a particular cell coverage area), etc. Forexample, a communication with a particular carrier can involvecommunicating over a respective wireless link using a particularfrequency, polarization, etc. The communications system architecture canuse multiple carriers to provide various features, including servicing alarge service area made up of multiple carrier coverage areas (e.g.,spot beam coverage areas, cell coverage areas, etc.). Carrier coverageareas can partially or fully overlap, so that certain geographic regionsare serviced (e.g., concurrently) by multiple carriers. As the transportcraft 110 moves through the communications network, it can move throughmultiple carrier coverage areas, so that communications services can beprovided to the transport craft 110 via different carriers over time.For example, during a transatlantic or international airplane flight, anairplane, and the content consumption devices 120 of passengers on theairplane, may move through a number of carrier coverage areas; and thedifferent carriers servicing those coverage areas can be used over timeto maintain communications with the transport craft 110 over a largegeographic region covered during transport (e.g., the traversed regionis larger than a single carrier coverage area), and/or to provide otherfeatures, such as facilitating load balancing across multiple carriers,grouping of terminals by carrier, etc. Moving a transport craft 110 fromone carrier to another carrier during transport can involve “handover”of communications services between those carriers, which can involvehanding over pending multicast communications and/or other services insome cases.

Use of the in-transit communications services by passengers of thetransport craft 110 can involve communication of various types ofcontent over the provider network. For example, the content can includemedia content streaming (e.g., over-the-top television, movie, or radioprogramming); live television or radio viewing; Internet browsing,social media, or online gaming interactions; emailing, texting, or othermessaging interactions; etc. Such content can originate from, and/or bedestined for, the content server(s) 180 via the content network 160 andgateway 150 (and/or other provider-side network nodes 245). The contentnetwork 160 can include any suitable type of network, such as theInternet, an IP network, an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), localarea network (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN), a virtual LAN(VLAN), a fiber optic network, a cable network, a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), a public switched data network (PSDN), apublic land mobile network, and/or any other type of network supportingcommunication as described herein. The network 160 can include bothwired and wireless connections as well as optical links.

The content server(s) 180 can be accessible via the satellite 105 in anysuitable architecture. For example, content can be generated by thecontent server(s) 180, stored at the content server(s) 180, and/orreceived by the content server(s) 180 via network 160; and the contentserver(s) 180 may be located at the gateway 150, core node, or any othersuitable location of the communications infrastructure. The content canbe communicated from the content server(s) 180 to the contentconsumption devices 120 (e.g., in response to requests for such mediafrom the content consumption devices 120), while in flight, via thesatellite 105 and the on-board communication system 112. Although onlyone content server 180 is shown to avoid over complication of thedrawing, the content received by the content consumption devices 120 maybe from one or more content server(s) 180 in one or more locations. Insome cases, provision of the in-transit communications services involvesproviding content in response to requests (e.g., explicit or implicitrequests) for such content from the content consumption devices 120. Inother cases, provision of the in-transit communications servicesinvolves pushing the content to the transport craft 110 and/or toparticular content consumption devices 120 not in response to a clientrequest. For example, content can be pushed to content consumptiondevices 120 based on a schedule or for pre-positioning purposes, contentcan be broadcast or multicast to the transport craft 110 using anysuitable communications protocols and/or schema, etc.

Provision of the in-transit communications services to the transportcraft 110 can involve interactions between the provider-side componentsof the network and the on-board communication system 112 (e.g., via oneor more satellite communications links 135 and the satellite 105).Embodiments of the on-board communication system 112 include thein-transit terminal 230, and the in-transit terminal 230 can include anantenna system 170, transceiver 172, modem 174, network access unit(NAU) 176, and wireless access point (WAP) 178. In some implementations,the on-board communication system 112 can provide for reception of aforward downlink signal from the satellite 105 and transmission of areturn uplink signal to the satellite 105 to support two-way datacommunications between content consumption devices 120 within thetransport craft 110 and provider-side components of the providernetwork. The content consumption devices 120 can include mobile devices(e.g., smartphones, laptops, tablets, netbooks, and the like), such aspersonal electronic devices (PEDs) brought onto the transport craft 110by passengers. As further examples, the content consumption devices 120can include passenger seat back systems, or other devices on thetransport craft 110. The content consumption devices 120 can communicatewith the network access unit 176 via a communication link that can bewired and/or wireless. The communication link can be, for example, partof a local area network such as a wireless local area network (WLAN)supported by WAP 178. One or more WAPs 178 can be distributed about thetransport craft 110, and can, in conjunction with network access unit176, provide traffic switching and routing functionality; for example,as part of a WLAN extended service set (ESS), etc.

In operation, the network access unit 176 can provide uplink datareceived from the content consumption devices 120 to the modem 174 togenerate modulated uplink data (e.g., a transmit intermediate frequency(IF) signal) for delivery to the transceiver 172. The transceiver 172can upconvert and then amplify the modulated uplink data to generate thereturn uplink signal for transmission to the satellite 105 via theantenna system 170. Similarly, the transceiver 172 can receive theforward downlink signal from the satellite 105 via the antenna system170. The transceiver 172 can amplify and downconvert the forwarddownlink signal to generate modulated downlink data (e.g., a receive IFsignal) for demodulation by the modem 174. The demodulated downlink datafrom the modem 174 can be provided to the network access unit 176 forrouting to the content consumption devices 120. The modem 174 can beintegrated with the network access unit 176, or can be a separatecomponent in some examples.

As the transport craft 110 moves through carriers of the communicationssystem 100, passengers on-board those transport craft 110 can consumein-transit communications services using their content consumptiondevices 120. Some embodiments described herein seek to ensure at least adesired level of QoE to those passengers consuming, or seeking toconsume, the in-transit communications services. This can involve usingvarious components across the provider network to obtain and exploitboth objective and subjective QoE-related information for passengers ofthe transport craft 110.

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative communications system 200 for deliveringin-transport communications services in a manner that supports a desiredpassenger QoE, according to various embodiments. The communicationssystem 200 can be an implementation of portions of the communicationssystem 100 described with reference to FIG. 1 . For example, as in FIG.1 , the communications system 200 of FIG. 2 includes one or moretransport craft 110 in communication with one or more provider-sidenetwork nodes 245 via a provider network 240. The provider network 240can include the satellite communications network depicted in FIG. 1 , orany other suitable network or networks.

The transport craft 110 can have, disposed thereon, an in-transitterminal 230 in communication with multiple content consumption devices120 via an on-board network 225. Embodiments of the in-transit terminal230 can include a provider network interface 232 to communicativelycouple with the provider network 240 over which the in-transitcommunications services are provided to the transport craft 110.Embodiments of the in-transit terminal 230 can also include an on-boardnetwork interface 234 to communicatively couple with the contentconsumption devices 120 via the on-board network 225.

In the illustrated embodiment, the provider-side network nodes 245includes a measurement subsystem 250, a QoE scoring subsystem 270, and aservice profile store 260 having service level data stored thereon (asdescribed below). Embodiments of the measurement subsystem 250 include anetwork-level delivery (NLD) subsystem 252 to measure delivery of thein-transit communications services during a measurement time window toobtain a set of NLD measurements. In some embodiments, the set of NLDmeasurements includes a measurement of availability of the in-transitcommunications services in the measurement time window. In oneimplementation, the NLD subsystem 252 repeatedly (e.g., periodically)pings the communications network to determine whether the connection islive, and records results of the pings over the measurement time windowto obtain a measurement of availability. In another implementation, theNLD subsystem 252 periodically or continuously measures data rate of oneor more links of the communications network to determine if any requestor response data is traversing the link(s). Any periods during which nodata is traversing the link(s) can be recorded as periods of noavailability, and the NLD subsystem 252 can obtain a measurement ofavailability, accordingly. In other embodiments, the set of NLDmeasurements includes a measurement of data rate of the in-transitcommunications services in the measurement time window. In otherembodiments, the set of NLD measurements includes a link metricmeasurement for at least one communications link between a provider-sidenode of the communications network and the transport craft. For example,the link metric can indicate a link latency, bandwidth, handover status,and/or any other suitable link metric. Any of these and/or other typesof NLD measurements can include measurements of forward-link performance(NLD measurements relating to forward-link traffic traversing links ofthe communications network) and/or measurements of return-linkperformance (NLD measurements relating to return-link traffic traversinglinks of the communications network). As used herein, forward-linkcommunications generally refer to communications sent to the transportcraft 110, while return-link communications generally refer tocommunications sent from the transport craft 110. For example,forward-link communications can be sent from the provider-side node(s)245 to the transport craft 110 (or, referring to FIG. 1 , over one ormore satellite communications links 135 from a gateway 150 to one ormore transport craft 110); and return-link communications can be sentfrom the transport craft 110 to the provider-side node(s) 245 (or,referring to FIG. 1 , over one or more satellite communications links135 from a transport craft 110 to a gateway 150).

The NLD subsystem 252 can obtain the NLD measurements in any suitablemanner. For example, the measurement subsystem 250 can run speed testsand/or other network tests to check whether the network is available andis providing a particular data rate. Locating the NLD subsystem 252 atthe provider-side network nodes 245 can facilitate obtaining and/oraggregating measurements from across multiple transport craft 110. Forexample, the NLD measurements can be aggregated per transport craft, percarrier and/or beam, per fleet, per transport craft type, per transportroute, per passenger type, per content consumption device type, percontent consumption application type, per class of service, pergeography, per time (e.g., time of day, time of year), per transportcraft capacity, etc. In some implementations, the aggregation can bemulti-dimensional. For example, NLD measurements can be aggregated percarrier per transport craft type.

Embodiments of the measurement subsystem 250 also include acustomer-level consumption (CLC) subsystem 254 to measure consumption ofthe in-transit communications services in the measurement time window byat least one of the content consumption devices 120 to obtain a set ofCLC measurements. In some embodiments, some or all of the NLDmeasurements are objective measurements, and some or all of the CLCmeasurements are subjective measurements. In some embodiments, one ormore of the subjective CLC measurements is obtained by communicating aprompt to one or more passengers via their one or more contentconsumption devices 120 to request subjective feedback data from thepassenger(s) regarding the consumption of the in-transit communicationsservices in the measurement time window. For example, the prompt can becommunicated while the passenger(s) is using the content consumptiondevice(s) 120 to consume in-transit communications services, or sometimethereafter. In one such embodiment, consumption of the in-transit mediaservices is via a dedicated application (e.g., provided by the transportcraft provider, by the communications provider, etc.), or via a standardapplication (e.g., a standard Internet browser); and the applicationincludes graphical user interface elements, popups, or the like, bywhich prompts can be displayed during login to services, interactionswith services, responsive to detecting certain conditions duringconsumption of services, etc. The subjective feedback data can bereceived from the at least one of the one or more passengers via the atleast one content consumption device responsive to the prompt, and atleast a portion of the CLC measurements can be generated according tothe subjective feedback data.

The CLC subsystem 254 can additionally or alternatively obtain one ormore objective CLC measurements in any suitable manner. For example, theCLC subsystem 254 can include, or be in communication with, aprovider-side deep packet inspection engine, a traffic shaper, etc.(e.g., and/or one or more simulated content consumption devices (SCCDs)222, as described below). Such components can monitor trafficcommunicated to and from the transport craft 110 and/or individualcontent consumption devices 120 to determine what types of content arebeing consumed, how much of each type of content is being consumed,which applications or application types are being used to consumecontent, etc. As with the NLD subsystem 252, locating the CLC subsystem254 at the provider-side network nodes 245 can facilitate obtainingand/or aggregating measurements from across multiple transport craft110. The CLC measurements can be aggregated in the same or differentways (e.g., at higher or lower resolution, across the same or differentvariables, etc.) as the aggregation of the NLD measurements. Forexample, some implementations can aggregate the CLC measurements bycommunication protocol type, application type, browser type, etc.

In one implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates an amountof data of the in-transit communications services used (e.g., includingupload and/or download usage) by one or more content consumption devices120 in the measurement time window. In another implementation, the setof CLC measurements indicates an amount of time the one or more contentconsumption devices 120 used the in-transit communications services inthe measurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLCmeasurements indicates at least one device type used to consume thein-transit communications services by the one or more contentconsumption devices 120 in the measurement time window (e.g., deviceformat, such as smart phone, laptop, tablet, etc.; device installation,such as personal mobile device, seatback terminal, shared cabin display,etc.; device characteristic, such as screen size, operating system,etc.). In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicatesat least one content consumption application used to consume thein-transit communications services by the one or more contentconsumption devices 120 in the measurement time window (e.g.,over-the-top media streaming, Internet chat, Internet browsing, email,etc.). In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicatesa traffic type involved in consuming the in-transit communicationsservices by the one or more content consumption devices 120 in themeasurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLCmeasurements indicates whether at least one of the passengers associatedwith the one or more content consumption devices 120 successfullypurchased consumption of the in-transit communications services inassociation with the measurement time window. In another implementation,the set of CLC measurements indicates whether the one or more contentconsumption devices 120 successfully communicatively coupled with thein-transit terminal 230 to consume the in-transit communicationsservices in association with the measurement time window.

In some embodiments, some of the CLC measurements can be affected by useof one or more simulated content consumption devices (SCCDs) 222. EachSCCD 222 can be implemented as an executable program running on thein-transit server 230 that simulates behavior of one or more actualcontent consumption devices 120. Alternatively, one or more SCCDs 222can be implemented as an actual or virtual machine running a simulationprogram. A SCCD 222 can be used, for example, to simulate normalconsumer behavior, atypical consumer behavior, particular failure modesof content consumption devices, peculiarities of particular types ofcontent consumption devices (e.g., brands, browsers, operating systems,software updates, etc.), peculiarities of particular use cases (e.g.,types of apps, types of content, etc.), and/or other conditions.

In some implementations, the SCCDs 222 are used to generate metricsrelating to web browsing (e.g., webpage load times, etc.), therebycontributing to computing a web browsing QoE score. For example, a SCCD222 executable program can include a predefined set of one or more webpages to be requested by the SCCD 222. Repeatedly executing the program(e.g., at different times) can cause the SCCD 222 to request the samepredefined set of one or more web pages each time, thereby obtainingmultiple measurement samples for the web page load times over time. Themeasurement samples can be used (e.g., automatically) to define anacceptable web page load time (or acceptable range of web page loadtimes), and to detect samples that do not comply (indicatingunacceptable web page load times). In one such implementation, the SCCD222 records web page load times over the course of a number ofiterations and/or over time, automatically characterizes the recordedweb page load times to define an acceptable web page load time, and usesthe defined acceptable web page load time to detect anomalies in therecorded web page load times and/or in subsequently recorded web pageload times. In another such implementation, the SCCD 222 records webpage load times over the course of a number of iterations and/or overtime and sends the recorded web page load times to the CLC subsystem254. The CLC subsystem 254 can automatically characterize the recordedweb page load times to define an acceptable web page load time and usethe defined acceptable web page load time to detect anomalies in therecorded web page load times and/or in subsequently recorded web pageload times.

In some implementations, the SCCDs 222 are used to generate metricsrelating to video streaming (e.g., video startup delays, videorebuffering, etc.), thereby contributing to computing a video streamingQoE score. For example, a SCCD 222 executable program can include apredefined set of one or more video files to be requested by the SCCD222. Repeatedly executing the program (e.g., at different times) cancause the SCCD 222 to request the same predefined set of one or morevideo files each time (e.g., from a provider-side node 245), therebyobtaining multiple measurement samples for the video startup delays. Themeasurement samples can be used (e.g., automatically) to defineacceptable video startup delays, and to detect samples that do notcomply (indicating unacceptable video startup delay). Similarly, whileusing the SCCD 222 to stream a video file, the number of rebufferingevents can be counted over a certain period of time (e.g., 5 minutes),and the number can be used to establish an acceptable threshold number,and/or the number can be compared to an existing threshold number toindicate to detect an unacceptable number of rebuffering events.

Other embodiments can use the SCCDs 222 to generate any other suitablemetrics to contribute to computing a general QoE score and/or variousQoE scores relating to particular types of activities. In some of theseand/or other implementations, CLC measurements obtained using the SCCDs222 can be combined with NLD measurements (e.g., availability ofin-transit communications services, forward-link data rate forin-transit communications services, etc.) to further contribute tocomputing one or more QoE scores. For example, while the measurementsubsystem 250 is obtaining NLD measurements and CLC measurements, one ormore SCCDs 222 can be running on the in-transit terminal 230 to simulategeneration and/or consumption of various types of traffic (e.g., therebyimpacting, and/or further contributing to the measurement of, the CLCmeasurements). This can be performed while a transport craft 110 is innormal transit (e.g., during a measurement time window whiletransporting passengers), while the transport craft 110 is in simulatedtransit (e.g., while the transport craft 110 is parked, or the like, andis being tested), or at any other suitable time.

The in-transit communications services are provided to passengers viatheir content consumption devices 120 (and/or to SCCDs 222) during someor all of a transit time of the transport craft 110. Similarly, themeasurement time window over which the NLD and/or CLC measurements areobtained can be some or all of the transit time of the transport craft110. For example, an airplane passenger may not be permitted to accessin-transit communications services during takeoff or landing, or duringother portions of a flight; while a bus passenger may be permitted toaccess in-transit communications services for the entire time thepassenger is on board the bus. Accordingly, some implementations set themeasurement time window in accordance with the portion of the transittime of the transport craft 110 during which passengers are permitted toaccess in-transit communications services. Further, there may be certaintimes during the transit of a transport craft 110 at which more or fewerpassengers are likely to be using in-transit communications services, atwhich in-transit communications services are likely to be more or lessreliably delivered to the transport craft 110, etc. Accordingly, someimplementations set the measurement time window to correspond to suchtimes at which certain failure modes or other conditions are likely tooccur. In other implementations, the measurement time window is set torecord a sample of activity for a predetermined amount of time. Forexample, the measurement time window can be set to a ten minute windowapproximately halfway through the transit time of the transport craft.In other implementations, the measurement time window can be set inresponse to a trigger event. For example, implementations canautomatically be triggered to measure with respect to one or moretransport craft 110 for an amount of time in response to an explicitmeasurement request (e.g., issued contractually based on a schedule,issued by a service technician, etc.), in response to a detected networkevent that could impact QoE (e.g., a network outage, a detected surge innetwork usage, etc.), in response to a detected indication of reducedQoE (e.g., a detected reduction in QoE for one or more passengers of atransport craft 110 can trigger measurement of QoE for other passengersof that transport craft 110, other transport craft 110 serviced by thesame carrier, etc.), and/or in response to any other suitable triggerevent.

Embodiments of the QoE scoring subsystem 270 are in communication withthe measurement subsystem 250 to compute a QoE score associated with aparticular measurement time window as a function of the NLD measurementsand the CLC measurements. The QoE score can indicate a delivered qualityof service (QoS) as perceived by one or more passengers of one or moretransport craft 110 relating to those passengers' consumption (or lackof consumption) of the in-transit communications services via theircontent consumption devices 120. After computing the QoE score,embodiments of the QoE scoring subsystem 270 can update the servicelevel data stored in the service profile store 260, accordingly. In someembodiments, updating the service profile store 260 involves storing newdata and/or overwriting data in the service profile store 260. In otherembodiments, the updating can involve computing updated statistics,metrics, trends, and/or other data in accordance with the updatedservice level data, and storing those updates in the service profilestore 260.

In the event that updating the service profile store 260 causes someportion of the service level data to cross a predefined triggerthreshold (e.g., to exceed a maximum threshold level, or to drop below aminimum threshold level), the QoE scoring subsystem 270 can output aservice level trigger 275. In some embodiments, the service leveltrigger 275 can indicate one or more predetermined undesirableconditions with respect to QoE for one or more passengers of thetransport craft 110. In other embodiments, the service level trigger 275can indicate one or more exceptionally desirable conditions with respectto QoE for one or more passengers of the transport craft (e.g., inexcess of a contracted or guaranteed QoE level).

The QoE scoring subsystem 270 can compute the QoE score in any suitablemanner as a function of the NLD measurements and the CLC measurements.In some embodiments, the computing is based on number of predeterminedfactors each having a corresponding weighting. The weightings and/orfunction used in the computation can depend on the type of service leveltrigger 275 to be output by the QoE scoring subsystem 270. The computingcan be performed at any suitable resolution or resolutions, such thatthe computing can involve aggregating, interpolating, extrapolating,associating, etc. For example, the computing can result in one or moreQoE scores associated with a particular transport craft, a particularcustomer or group of customers, a particular device type, a particularapplication or data type, a particular service class, a particulartransport route, etc. In some embodiments, the in-transit communicationsservices are delivered to the transport craft in accordance with a setof contractual QoE conditions indicating at least one target NLD levelfor the set of NLD measurements and at least one target CLC level forthe set of CLC measurements. In such embodiments, the QoE scoringsubsystem 270 can compute the QoE score further as a function of atleast one of the set of contractual QoE conditions. For example,provision of the in-transit media services can be governed by a contractbetween the communications provider and the transport services provider,or between the communications provider and the passenger (e.g., per anend user license agreement, a terms of use agreement, a loyalty programagreement, etc.); and the contract can provide for promised, guaranteed,or other levels of service relating to QoE.

In some embodiments, the QoE scoring subsystem 270 computes the QoEscore according to previously or dynamically generated expected QoEconditions. For example, embodiments can generate a set of expected QoEconditions for one or more transport craft 110, transport craft type,transport route, carrier, etc. In some implementations, some or all ofthe expected QoE conditions are generated manually, for example, inaccordance with contractual obligations, normal operating expectations,etc. In other implementations, some or all of the expected QoEconditions are generated automatically by the QoE scoring subsystem 270as a function of the service level data stored in the service profilestore 260. For example, machine learning models, statistical models,trend analyses, or the like can be used to generate a band of valuesconsidered to be within a normal operating range for certain transportcraft 110, times of day, passenger capacity, etc. The generated expectedQoE conditions can indicate at least one of an expected NLD level for atleast one of the set of NLD measurements or an expected CLC level for atleast one of the set of CLC measurements. The QoE scoring subsystem 270can then compute the QoE score in such a way that the QoE scoreindicates the delivered QoS as perceived by the one or more passengersof the transport craft as compared to the expected QoS.

In some embodiments, the service level trigger 275 generated by the QoEscoring subsystem 270 can be pre-associated with one or more automatedtrigger response actions. In such embodiments, the provider-side networknodes 245 can further include an automated response subsystem 280. Theautomated response subsystem 280 can detect the service level trigger275, and can direct performance of the automated trigger response actionresponsive to the detecting. The automated trigger response action caninclude directing automated performance of a task to address an issuewith the in-transit communications services indicated by the servicelevel trigger 275. In one implementation, the task includescommunicating a service call. For example, an automated service call canbe issued to on-craft personnel (e.g., a flight attendant) to seewhether the passenger's experience can be improved in some way (e.g., byresetting one or more components of the in-transit terminal, by guidingthe customer through usage, etc.), issued to ground personnel (e.g.,ground crew at a destination airport to inform them of a possibleserviceable issue with the in-transport terminal), or issued to acommunications provider (e.g., so they can log the issue, take remedialaction, schedule service, etc.). In another implementation, the taskincludes executing a repair script. For example, automated repairscripts can be used automatically to reboot one or more portions of thein-transit terminal, to re-establish a network connection, to updatesoftware, to check for viruses or other software errors, to suggestremedial action (e.g., prompting the passenger to try a differentbrowser or to download particular software), etc. In anotherimplementation, the task includes adjusting subsequent provisioning ofnetwork resources. For example, bandwidth allocations, traffic shaping,and/or other provisioning can be adjusted for the affected transportcraft in real-time; scheduled provisioning can be adjusted for futuretimes when the affected transport craft will be in transport, futuretimes when the same or another transport craft is scheduled to traversethe affected route, etc. In another implementation, the task includesissuing compensation to at least one of the one or more passengersimpacted by the issue, or adjusting pricing for consumption of thein-transit communications services. For example, one or more affectedpassengers can automatically be given access to a higher service levelat no or reduced cost, can automatically be issued rebates or discountson communications or other services (e.g., Internet access on a futureflight, a coupon for food or drink on a future flight, loyalty programcredit, etc.), can automatically be refunded for used communicationsservices, etc. In another implementation, the task includes generating areport for communication to a contract partner associated with deliveryof the in-transit communications services. For example, a transitservices provider can contract with a communications provider fordelivery of in-transit communications services; and the contract canrequire the communications provider to inform the transit servicesprovider of QoE-related metrics.

As described herein, QoE scores can be computed across variousdimensions and at various resolutions. For example, a QoE score can becomputed across any suitable combination of one or more passengers, oneor more aircraft, one or more behavior types (e.g., web browsing, videostreaming, etc.), one or more application types, and/or otherdimensions. Depending on the types of QoE scores that are computedand/or the types of service level triggers 275 to be output, servicelevel data can be updated in the service profile store 260 in variousways, and the function used to update the service level data can varyfrom embodiment to embodiment. In some embodiments, the service leveldata is updated in a manner that directly corresponds to particular QoEscores (e.g., each datum in a set of service level data in the serviceprofile store 260 is a corresponding previously computed QoE score). Forexample, a QoE score computed across passengers of a particular aircraftover a measurement time window indicates that, although in-transitcommunications services appear (e.g., according to certain NLDmeasurements) to be available at a desirable data rate, passengers arehaving a poor experience (e.g., according to certain CLC measurements).In such an example, the service level data can be updated to reflect thecomputed QoE score and can cause an output of a particular service leveltrigger 275 that causes the in-transit terminal 230 automatically toreset.

In other cases, the service level data is updated in a manner thataggregates multiple QoE scores computed over the same or differentmeasurement time windows. For example, over time, a respective QoE scoreis computed for each of multiple passengers on each of multiple aircraftover each of multiple measurement time windows. Updating the servicelevel data can involve aggregating some or all of the respective QoEscores across one or more dimensions (e.g., by aggregating QoE scoresfor all passengers of a particular aircraft in a particular measurementtime window, for one passenger over multiple measurement time windows,etc.) and/or at one or more resolutions (e.g., for all passengers of ina particular cabin of a particular aircraft, for all passengers of anentire aircraft, for all passengers across a fleet of aircraft, etc.).Further, each QoE score can be part of one or more aggregation (e.g.,one aggregation includes all passengers in a particular aircraft in aparticular measurement time window, and another aggregation includessome of the same passengers over multiple aircraft in multiple timewindows). In some cases, the aggregation involves further processingand/or computation, such as by computing interpolations, extrapolations,or statistical trends; by filtering and/or sorting; by processingthrough a machine learning algorithm; etc. The aggregations reflected bythe updated service level data can then be used to inform when manytypes of service level triggers 275 are output. For example, aggregatingrespective QoE scores of individual passengers can be used in a similarmanner to computing a single QoE score for multiple passengers (e.g., inthe example above where the service level trigger 275 that causes thein-transit terminal 230 automatically to reset). The aggregated servicelevel data can be used to detect and address longer term and/ormacroscopic QoE trends. For example, the service level data can indicatethat passengers tend to experience a poor QoE when seated in thebusiness class cabin of each of a particular model of aircraft in alarge fleet, and such service level data can cause outputting of aservice level trigger 275 that initiates a systematic review of thedelivery of in-transit communications services to the business classcabins of the particular model of aircraft.

In the various embodiments described with reference to FIG. 2 ,components of the measurement subsystem 250 and the QoE scoringsubsystem 270 are disposed in provider-side network nodes 245.Accordingly, these embodiments obtain NLD measurements and CLCmeasurements and compute QoE scores in the provider-side portion of thenetwork remote from the transport craft 110. In other embodiments,various portions of the measurement and/or computation components can bedisposed in other portions of the network, such as in the transportcraft 110. Some of these other embodiments are illustrated in FIGS. 3and 4 .

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative communications system 300 for deliveringin-transport communications services in a manner that supports a desiredpassenger QoE, in which components of the system 300 are primarilydisposed in individual transport craft 110, according to variousembodiments. The communications system 300 can be an implementation ofportions of the communications system 100 described with reference toFIG. 1 . For example, the illustrated transport craft 110 can representone of a number of transport craft 110 in communication with one or moreprovider-side network nodes 245 (not shown) via a provider network 240.

As in FIG. 2 , the transport craft 110 includes an in-transit terminal230 in communication with a number of content consumption devices 120over an on-board network 225. Some embodiments can also include one ormore SCCDs 222 that can be implemented by the in-transit terminal 230.The in-transit terminal 230 can include a provider network interface 232to communicatively couple with the provider network 240 over which thein-transit communications services are provided to the transport craft110, and an on-board network interface 234 to communicatively couplewith the content consumption devices 120 via the on-board network 225.Unlike in FIG. 2 , the in-transit terminal 230 of FIG. 3 includes themeasurement subsystem 250, the QoE scoring subsystem 270, and theservice profile store 260 (i.e., each in-transit terminal 230 disposedon each of the transport craft 110, or on a portion of the transportcraft 110, can include a respective instance of the measurementsubsystem 250, the QoE scoring subsystem 270, and the service profilestore 260).

The measurement subsystem 250 on board the transport draft 110 includesthe NLD subsystem 252 and the CLC subsystem 254. The NLD subsystem 252can monitoring the provider network interface 232 to obtain NLDmeasurements for one or more network connections between the providernetwork 240 and the in-transit terminal 230. For example, the NLDmeasurements can include network availability, data rate, bandwidth,handover status, communication protocol, modulation and/or codingscheme, and/or any other suitable NLD measurements. The CLC subsystem254 can include an on-board traffic shaper, on-board deep packetinspection engine, and/or other components to monitor the on-boardnetwork interface 234 to obtain CLC measurements of one or more networkconnections between the in-transit terminal 230 and the contentconsumption devices 120. For example, the CLC measurements can includehow many content consumption devices 120 are consuming in-transitcommunications services, which types of content consumption devices 120are being used to consume in-transit communications services (e.g.,device categories, such as by screen size; and/or particular devicetypes), which applications are being used to consume in-transitcommunications services (e.g., application categories, such asmessaging, over-the-top media streaming, etc.; and/or particularapplications), which types of traffic are traversing the on-boardnetwork 225 (e.g., data protocols, etc.), and/or any other suitable CLCmeasurements.

In the illustrated embodiment, the on-board QoE scoring subsystem 270can then use the obtained NLD measurements and CLC measurements tocompute a QoE score. For example, the QoE scoring subsystem 270 canupdate the service profile store 260 to determine whether to generate aservice level trigger 275. In the event that a service level trigger 275is generated by the QoE scoring subsystem 270, some embodiments can logthe service level trigger 275. For example, the logged service leveltrigger 275 can be used for subsequent maintenance or subsequentremedial action. In other embodiments, the QoE scoring subsystem 270 caninclude components, or can be in communication with an on-boardautomated response subsystem 280 (not shown), to automatically takeremedial action (e.g., by rebooting a connection, running diagnosticscripts, etc.).

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative communications system 400 that is similarto the system 300 of FIG. 3 , except that the QoE scoring subsystem 270and service profile store 260 are disposed in the provider-side networknodes 245. For example, as in FIG. 3 the transport craft 110 canrepresent one or multiple transport craft 110, each including anin-transit terminal 230 that is in communication with a provider network240 (via a provider network interface 232) and is in communication witha number of content consumption devices 120 over an on-board network 225(via an on-board network interface 234). Each in-transit terminal 230can include an on-board measurement subsystem 250, which can include anNLD subsystem 252 and a CLC subsystem 254. Some embodiments can alsoinclude one or more SCCDs 222 that can be implemented by the in-transitterminal 230.

NDL measurements and CLC measurements obtained by the on-boardmeasurement subsystems 250 of the multiple transport craft 110 can becommunicated over the provider network 240 to the QoE scoring subsystem270 (e.g., or to multiple QoE scoring subsystems 270). In theillustrated embodiment, the QoE scoring subsystem(s) 270 can use theobtained NLD measurements and CLC measurements to compute one or moreQoE scores. For example, the QoE scores can be generated usingmeasurements from a single transport craft 110 over a single measurementtime window, aggregated from a single transport craft 110 over multiplemeasurement time windows, aggregated from multiple transport craft 110in a single carrier over one or more measurement time windows,aggregated from multiple transport craft 110 in multiple carriers overone or more measurement time windows, etc. The received NLD and CLCmeasurements can be used to update the service profile store 260 todetermine whether to generate a service level trigger 275. In the eventthat a service level trigger 275 is generated by the QoE scoringsubsystem 270, embodiments can log the service level trigger 275 for usein taking future action, and/or can include components (e.g., anautomated response subsystem 280, not shown) to automatically takeremedial action.

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of an illustrative method 500 for deliveringin-transport media services, according to various embodiments. In someembodiments, the method 500 is implemented using various components ofthe systems described in FIGS. 1-4 . Embodiments of the method 500 beginat stage 504 by providing, over a measurement time window, in-transitcommunications services over a provider network to content consumptiondevices via an in-transit terminal disposed on a transport craft. Thein-transit communications services can include over-the-top or otherstreaming media services (e.g., movies, television, music, etc.);Internet browsing services (e.g., interaction with website content);personal communication services (e.g., email, texting, etc.); and/or anyother suitable communications services delivered via a provider network.The provider network can include any suitable satellite or otherwireless communications links for communicating between one or moreprovider-side network nodes and the in-transit terminal on the transportcraft. The in-transit terminal can include any suitable communicationshardware (e.g., transceivers, modems, servers, etc.) disposed on anysuitable transport craft (e.g., airplane, cruise ship, train, bus,etc.). The content consumption devices can include craft-installedconsumption devices (e.g., seat-back display terminals, shared displayscreens aboard a transport craft, etc.), personal consumption devices(e.g., passenger smart phones, tablet or laptop computers, etc.), or anyother suitable content consumption devices.

The measurement time window can include some or all of the time overwhich in-transit communications are provided to passengers on thetransport craft. In one implementation, the measurement time windowincludes an entire transport time of the transport craft. In anotherimplementation, the measurement time window includes only a portion ofthe transport time of the transport craft during which consumption ofin-transport communications services is permitted (e.g., a time duringwhich a particular airplane flight is at an altitude above 10,000 feet).In another implementation, the measurement time window is some sampletime (e.g., ten minutes) during the transport time of the transportcraft.

At stage 508, embodiments can measure delivery of the in-transitcommunications services during the measurement time window to obtain aset of network-level delivery (NLD) measurements. In some embodiments,the set of NLD measurements includes a measurement of availability ofthe in-transit communications services in the measurement time window.In other embodiments, the set of NLD measurements includes a measurementof data rate of the in-transit communications services in themeasurement time window. In other embodiments, the set of NLDmeasurements includes a link metric measurement for at least onecommunications link between a provider-side node of the communicationsnetwork and the transport craft. For example, the link metric canindicate a link latency, bandwidth, handover status, and/or any othersuitable link metric. Any of these and/or other types of NLDmeasurements can include measurements of forward-link performance (NLDmeasurements relating to forward-link traffic traversing links of thecommunications network) and/or measurements of return-link performance(NLD measurements relating to return-link traffic traversing links ofthe communications network). In some implementations, some or all of themeasuring at stage 508 can be performed by the in-transit terminal. Forexample, the in-transit terminal can run speed tests and/or othernetwork tests to check whether the network is available and is providinga particular data rate. In certain implementations, the measuring atstage 508 can include aggregating NLD data from multiple of the contentconsumption devices. For example, the NLD data can be aggregated pertransport craft, per carrier and/or beam, per fleet, per transport crafttype, per transport route, per passenger type, per device type, per apptype, per class of service, per geography, per time (e.g., time of day,time of year), per transport craft capacity, etc. In some embodiments,the providing at stage 504 includes communicating the in-transitcommunications services over the provider network from a provider-sidenetwork node to the transport craft, and at least some of the measuringat stage 508 is performed by the provider-side network node. Forexample, a gateway terminal can detect link conditions, ping in-transitterminals of transport craft, etc.

At stage 512, embodiments can measure consumption of the in-transitcommunications services in the measurement time window by at least oneof the content consumption devices to obtain a set of customer-levelconsumption (CLC) measurements. In some embodiments, the measuring atstage 512 can include communicating a prompt via the at least onecontent consumption device to at least one of the one or more passengerson the transport craft that is using the at least one contentconsumption device, the prompt requesting subjective feedback data fromthe at least one of the one or more passengers regarding the consumptionof the in-transit communications services in the measurement time windowby the at least one content consumption device. For example, consumptionof the in-transit media services can be via a dedicated application(e.g., provided by the transport craft provider, by the communicationsprovider, etc.), or via a standard application (e.g., a standardInternet browser); and the application includes graphical user interfaceelements, popups, or the like, by which prompts can be displayed duringlogin to services, interactions with services, responsive to detectingcertain conditions during consumption of services, etc. The subjectivefeedback data can be received from the at least one of the one or morepassengers via the at least one content consumption device responsive tothe prompt, and at least a portion of the CLC measurements can begenerated according to the subjective feedback data. In someimplementations, the measuring at stage 512 involves obtaining at leastone of the set of CLC measurements by the in-transit terminal. Forexample, the in-transit terminal (e.g., a craft-side deep packetinspection engine, traffic shaper, etc.) can ping connected contentconsumption devices, aggregate feedback, check link status, etc. In somesuch implementations, simulated content consumption devices can be usedfor such measurements, as described herein. In other implementations,the providing at stage 504 includes communicating the in-transitcommunications services over the provider network from a provider-sidenetwork node to the transport craft, and at least some of the measuringat stage 512 is performed by the provider-side network node. Forexample, a component of a provider-side gateway node (e.g., aprovider-side deep packet inspection engine, traffic shaper, etc.) canaggregate CLC data from multiple transport craft, over an entire carrieror beam, etc.

In one implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates an amountof data of the in-transit communications services used (e.g., includingupload and/or download usage) by the at least one content consumptiondevice of the plurality of content consumption devices in themeasurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLCmeasurements indicates an amount of time the at least one contentconsumption device used the in-transit communications services in themeasurement time window. In another implementation, the set of CLCmeasurements indicates at least one device type used to consume thein-transit communications services by the at least one contentconsumption device in the measurement time window (e.g., device format,such as smart phone, laptop, tablet, etc.; device installation, such aspersonal mobile device, seatback terminal, shared cabin display, etc.;device characteristic, such as screen size, operating system, etc.). Inanother implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates at leastone content consumption application used to consume the in-transitcommunications services by the at least one content consumption devicein the measurement time window (e.g., over-the-top media streaming,Internet chat, Internet browsing, email, etc.). In anotherimplementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates a traffic typeinvolved in consuming the in-transit communications services by the atleast one content consumption device in the measurement time window. Inanother implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates whether atleast one of the passengers associated with the at least one contentconsumption device successfully purchased consumption of the in-transitcommunications services in association with the measurement time window.In another implementation, the set of CLC measurements indicates whetherthe at least one content consumption device successfully communicativelycoupled with the in-transit server to consume the in-transitcommunications services in association with the measurement time window.

In some embodiments, at stage 510, embodiments can execute a simulatedcontent consumption device by the in-transit terminal in the measurementtime window to consume the in-transit communications services inaccordance with a simulation protocol. In such embodiments, themeasuring at stage 512 can include measuring consumption of thein-transit communications services in the measurement time window by thesimulated content consumption device to obtain at least a portion of theset of CLC measurements. The simulated content consumption device is anexecutable program running on the in-transit server that simulatesbehavior of one or more content consumption devices. Such a simulatedcontent consumption device can be used to simulate normal consumerbehavior, erratic consumer behavior, particular failure modes of contentconsumption devices, peculiarities of particular types of contentconsumption devices (e.g., brands, browsers, operating systems, softwareupdates, etc.), peculiarities of particular use cases (e.g., types ofapps, types of content, etc.), and/or other conditions.

At stage 516, embodiments can compute, as a function of the set of NLDmeasurements and the set of CLC measurements, a quality of experience(QoE) score associated with the measurement time window and thetransport craft. As described herein, the QoE score indicates adelivered quality of service (QoS) as perceived by one or morepassengers of the transport craft. The computing at stage 516 can bebased on number of predetermined factors each having a correspondingweighting. The weightings and/or function used in the computation candepend on the type of trigger that will be output below in stage 524.The computing can be performed at any suitable resolution orresolutions, such that the computing can involve aggregating,interpolating, extrapolating, associating, etc. For example, thecomputing can result in one or more QoE scores associated with aparticular transport craft, a particular customer or group of customers,a particular device type, a particular application or data type, aparticular service class, a particular transport route, etc. In someembodiments, the in-transit communications services are delivered to thetransport craft in accordance with a set of contractual QoE conditionsindicating at least one target NLD level for the set of NLD measurementsand at least one target CLC level for the set of CLC measurements. Insuch embodiments, the computing at stage 516 can be further as afunction of at least one of the set of contractual QoE conditions. Forexample, provision of the in-transit media services in stage 504 can begoverned by a contract between the communications provider and thetransport services provider, or between the communications provider andthe passenger (e.g., per an end user license agreement, a terms of useagreement, a loyalty program agreement, etc.); and the contract canprovide for promised, guaranteed, or other levels of service relating toQoE.

At stage 520, embodiments can update service level data stored in aservice profile store as a function of the QoE score. In someembodiments, the updating involves storing new data, and/or overwritingdata in the service profile store. In other embodiments, the updatingcan involve computing updated statistics, metrics, trends, and/or otherdata in accordance with the updated service level data.

Some embodiments, at stage 530, generate expected QoE conditions for thetransport craft, such that the computing is further as a function of theset of expected QoE conditions. For example, embodiments can generate asa function of the service level data stored in the service profilestore, prior to the computing, a set of expected QoE conditions for thetransport craft (e.g., for the particular transport craft, transportcraft type, transport route, carrier, etc.) indicating at least one ofan expected NLD level for at least one of the set of NLD measurements oran expected CLC level for at least one of the set of CLC measurements.In such cases, the computing at stage 516 is such that the QoE scorefurther indicates the delivered QoS as perceived by the one or morepassengers of the transport craft as compared to an expected QoS.

At stage 524, embodiments can output a service level trigger responsiveto the updating causing at least a portion of the service level data tocross a predefined trigger threshold. For example, depending on the typeof service level trigger, crossing a predefined trigger threshold caninvolve reaching a level that is above a predetermined maximumthreshold, or below a predetermined minimum threshold, etc. In someembodiments, the service level trigger can indicate one or morepredetermined undesirable conditions with respect to QoE for one or morepassengers of the transport craft. In other embodiments, the servicelevel trigger can indicate one or more exceptionally desirableconditions with respect to QoE for one or more passengers of thetransport craft (e.g., in excess of a contracted or guaranteed QoElevel). As described above, some embodiments collect subjective feedbackdata from passengers (e.g., via a dedicated application, or the like).In some embodiments, the subjective feedback data is used to calibrateone or more trigger thresholds. For example, subjective feedback datacollected from a large number of passengers over time can indicate thatcertain types of service level triggers 275 are being output toofrequently or too infrequently, indicating that the trigger threshold isset too high or too low; and the trigger threshold can be raised orlowered, accordingly.

Some embodiments, at stage 526, can detect the service level triggeroutput in stage 524. In such embodiments, the service level trigger canbe pre-associated with an automated trigger response action. Some suchembodiments, at stage 528, can direct performance of the automatedtrigger response action responsive to the detecting. The automatedtrigger response action can include directing automated performance of atask to address an issue with the in-transit communications servicesindicated by the service level trigger. In one implementation, the taskincludes communicating a service call. For example, an automated servicecall can be issued to on-craft personnel (e.g., a flight attendant) tosee whether the passenger's experience can be improved in some way(e.g., by resetting one or more components of the in-transit terminal,by guiding the customer through usage, etc.), issued to ground personnel(e.g., ground crew at a destination airport to inform them of a possibleserviceable issue with the in-transport terminal), or issued to acommunications provider (e.g., so they can log the issue, take remedialaction, schedule service, etc.). In another implementation, the taskincludes executing a repair script. For example, automated repairscripts can be used automatically to reboot one or more portions of thein-transit terminal, to re-establish a network connection, to updatesoftware, to check for viruses or other software errors, to suggestremedial action (e.g., prompting the passenger to try a differentbrowser or to download particular software), etc. In anotherimplementation, the task includes adjusting subsequent provisioning ofnetwork resources. For example, bandwidth allocations, traffic shaping,and/or other provisioning can be adjusted for the affected transportcraft in real-time; scheduled provisioning can be adjusted for futuretimes when the affected transport craft will be in transport, futuretimes when the same or another transport craft is scheduled to traversethe affected route, etc. In another implementation, the task includesissuing compensation to at least one of the one or more passengersimpacted by the issue, or adjusting pricing for consumption of thein-transit communications services. For example, one or more affectedpassengers can automatically be given access to a higher service levelat no or reduced cost, can automatically be issued rebates or discountson communications or other services (e.g., Internet access on a futureflight, a coupon for food or drink on a future flight, loyalty programcredit, etc.), can automatically be refunded for used communicationsservices, etc. In another implementation, the task includes generating areport for communication to a contract partner associated with deliveryof the in-transit communications services. For example, a transitservices provider can contract with a communications provider fordelivery of in-transit communications services; and the contract canrequire the communications provider to inform the transit servicesprovider of QoE-related metrics.

The methods disclosed herein include one or more actions for achievingthe described method. The method and/or actions can be interchanged withone another without departing from the scope of the claims. In otherwords, unless a specific order of actions is specified, the order and/oruse of specific actions can be modified without departing from the scopeof the claims.

The functions described can be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, thefunctions can be stored as one or more instructions on a tangiblecomputer-readable medium. A storage medium can be any available tangiblemedium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other tangible medium that can be usedto carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions ordata structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc,as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers.

A computer program product can perform certain operations presentedherein. For example, such a computer program product can be a computerreadable tangible medium having instructions tangibly stored (and/orencoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or moreprocessors to perform the operations described herein. The computerprogram product can include packaging material. Software or instructionscan also be transmitted over a transmission medium. For example,software can be transmitted from a website, server, or other remotesource using a transmission medium such as a coaxial cable, fiber opticcable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wirelesstechnology such as infrared, radio, or microwave.

Further, modules and/or other appropriate means for performing themethods and techniques described herein can be downloaded and/orotherwise obtained by suitable terminals and/or coupled to servers, orthe like, to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methodsdescribed herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can beprovided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage mediumsuch as a CD or floppy disk, etc.), such that a user terminal and/orbase station can obtain the various methods upon coupling or providingthe storage means to the device. Moreover, any other suitable techniquefor providing the methods and techniques described herein to a devicecan be utilized. Features implementing functions can also be physicallylocated at various positions, including being distributed such thatportions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

In describing the present invention, the following terminology will beused: The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referentsunless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example,reference to an item includes reference to one or more items. The term“ones” refers to one, two, or more, and generally applies to theselection of some or all of a quantity. The term “plurality” refers totwo or more of an item. The term “about” means quantities, dimensions,sizes, formulations, parameters, shapes and other characteristics neednot be exact, but can be approximated and/or larger or smaller, asdesired, reflecting acceptable tolerances, conversion factors, roundingoff, measurement error and the like and other factors known to those ofskill in the art. The term “substantially” means that the recitedcharacteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, butthat deviations or variations including, for example, tolerances,measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factorsknown to those of skill in the art, can occur in amounts that do notpreclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.Numerical data can be expressed or presented herein in a range format.It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely forconvenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly toinclude not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limitsof the range, but also interpreted to include all of the individualnumerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if eachnumerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration,a numerical range of “about 1 to 5” should be interpreted to include notonly the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but alsoinclude individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range.Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2,3 and 4 and sub-ranges such as 1-3, 2-4 and 3-5, etc. This sameprinciple applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value (e.g.,“greater than about 1”) and should apply regardless of the breadth ofthe range or the characteristics being described. A plurality of itemscan be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these listsshould be construed as though each member of the list is individuallyidentified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual memberof such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any othermember of the same list solely based on their presentation in a commongroup without indications to the contrary. Furthermore, where the terms“and” and “or” are used in conjunction with a list of items, they are tobe interpreted broadly, in that any one or more of the listed items canbe used alone or in combination with other listed items. The term“alternatively” refers to selection of one of two or more alternatives,and is not intended to limit the selection to only those listedalternatives or to only one of the listed alternatives at a time, unlessthe context clearly indicates otherwise. The term “coupled” as usedherein does not require that the components be directly connected toeach other. Instead, the term is intended to also include configurationswith indirect connections where one or more other components can beincluded between coupled components. For example, such other componentscan include amplifiers, attenuators, isolators, directional couplers,redundancy switches, and the like. Also, as used herein, including inthe claims, “or” as used in a list of items prefaced by “at least oneof” indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “atleast one of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC(i.e., A and B and C). Further, the term “exemplary” does not mean thatthe described example is preferred or better than other examples. Asused herein, a “set” of elements is intended to mean “one or more” ofthose elements, except where the set is explicitly required to have morethan one or explicitly permitted to be a null set.

Various changes, substitutions, and alterations to the techniquesdescribed herein can be made without departing from the technology ofthe teachings as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope ofthe disclosure and claims is not limited to the particular aspects ofthe process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means,methods, and actions described above. Processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or actions, presently existingor later to be developed, that perform substantially the same functionor achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding aspectsdescribed herein can be utilized. Accordingly, the appended claimsinclude within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or actions.

1-30. (canceled)
 31. A method for providing in-transit communicationsservices during a transit time of a transport craft, the methodcomprising: measuring, during a measurement time window, a communicationon service metric regarding the in-transit communications services;comparing the communication service metric to a trigger threshold; andautomatically initiating a service level trigger comprising acompensation issued to one or more passengers onboard the transportcraft that is affected by issues with the in-transit communicationsservices based on a determination that the communication service metricis less than the trigger threshold.
 32. The method of claim 31, whereinthe communication service metric comprises a QoE score calculated duringthe measurement time window.
 33. The method of claim 31, wherein thecommunication service metric is at least in part based on at least oneof: a network-level delivery (NLD) measurement of the in-transitcommunications services received at an in-transit terminal disposed onthe transport craft from a provider network; or a customer-levelconsumption (CLC) measurement of the in-transit communications servicesconsumed by a content consumption device served by the in-transitterminal and disposed on the transport craft; wherein the NLDmeasurement relates to delivery of the in-transit communicationsservices and the CLC measurement relates to consumption of thein-transit communications services during the measurement time window.34. The method of claim 33, wherein the NLD measurement comprisesmeasuring a link metric of a communications link between the transportcraft and a provider enabling the communications link to the transportcraft.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the link metric comprises atleast one of a link latency, a bandwidth, and a handover status of thecommunications link.
 36. The method of claim 33, wherein the CLCmeasurement comprises measuring at least one of: an amount of data ofthe in-transit communications services used by the content consumptiondevice in the measurement time window; an amount of time the contentconsumption device used the in-transit communications services in themeasurement time window; at least one device type used to consume thein-transit communications services by the content consumption device inthe measurement time window; at least one content consumptionapplication used to consume the in-transit communications services bythe content consumption device in the measurement time window; a traffictype involved in consuming the in-transit communications services by thecontent consumption device in the measurement time window; whether atleast one passenger of the one or more passengers associated with thecontent consumption device successfully purchased consumption of thein-transit communications services in association with the measurementtime window; and whether the content consumption device successfullycommunicatively coupled with an on-board network to consume thein-transit communications services in association with the measurementtime window.
 37. The method of claim 33, wherein the measuring of a setof CLC measurements comprises aggregating CLC data from multiple of aplurality of content consumption devices.
 38. The method of claim 31,wherein the measuring of the communication service metric is performedperiodically during the measurement time window.
 39. The method of claim31, wherein the measuring of the communication service metric isperformed continuously during the measurement time window.
 40. Themethod of claim 31, wherein the measurement time window comprises aportion of the transit time that is less than the transit time.
 41. Themethod of claim 40, wherein the service level trigger is initiated inreal-time during the transit time of the transport craft.
 42. The methodof claim 31, wherein the compensation comprises at least one of a rebateof a cost of the in-transit communications services provided during thetransit time, a refund of the cost of the in-transit communicationsservices provided during the transit time, a discount for the in-transitcommunications services during a future trip, providing access to ahigher service level at a discounted cost, a loyalty program credit, anda coupon for food or drink on a future trip.
 43. A system for monitoringin-transit communications services of a transport craft during a transittime, the system comprising: a measurement subsystem configured tomeasure, during a measurement time window, a communication servicemetric regarding the in-transit communications services; and a scoringsubsystem in communication with the measurement subsystem and configuredto compare the communication service metric to a trigger threshold andautomatically initiate a service level trigger comprising a compensationissued to one or more passengers onboard the transport craft that isaffected by issues with the in-transit communications services based ona determination that the communication service metric is less than thetrigger threshold.
 44. The system of claim 43, wherein the communicationservice metric comprises a QoE score calculated during the measurementtime window.
 45. The system of claim 43, wherein the communicationservice metric is at least in part based on at least one of: anetwork-level delivery (NLD) measurement of the in-transitcommunications services received at an in-transit terminal disposed onthe transport craft from a provider network over which the in-transitcommunications services are provided to the transport craft; or acustomer-level consumption (CLC) measurement of the in-transitcommunications services consumed by a content consumption device servedby the in-transit terminal disposed on the transport craft; wherein theNLD measurement relates to delivery of the in-transit communicationsservices and the CLC measurement relates to consumption of thein-transit communications services during the measurement time window.46. The system of claim 45, wherein the measurement subsystem measuresthe NLD measurement as a link metric of a communications link betweenthe transport craft and a provider enabling the communications link tothe transport craft.
 47. The system of claim 46, wherein the link metriccomprises at least one of a link latency, a bandwidth, and a handoverstatus of the communications link.
 48. The system of claim 45, whereinthe measurement subsystem measures the CLC measurement as at least oneof: an amount of data of the in-transit communications services used bythe content consumption device in the measurement time window; an amountof time the content consumption device used the in-transitcommunications services in the measurement time window; at least onedevice type used to consume the in-transit communications services bythe content consumption device in the measurement time window; at leastone content consumption application used to consume the in-transitcommunications services by the content consumption device in themeasurement time window; a traffic type involved in consuming thein-transit communications services by the content consumption device inthe measurement time window; whether at least one passenger of the oneor more passengers associated with the content consumption devicesuccessfully purchased consumption of the in-transit communicationsservices in association with the measurement time window; and whetherthe content consumption device successfully communicatively coupled withan on-board network to consume the in-transit communications services inassociation with the measurement time window.
 49. The system of claim45, wherein the measurement subsystem measures a set of CLC measurementsby aggregating CLC data from multiple of a plurality of contentconsumption devices.
 50. The system of claim 43, wherein the measurementsubsystem measures the communication service metric periodically duringthe measurement time window.
 51. The system of claim 43, wherein themeasurement subsystem measures the communication service metriccontinuously during the measurement time window.
 52. The system of claim43, wherein the measurement time window comprises a portion of thetransit time that is less than the transit time.
 53. The system of claim52, wherein the service level trigger is initiated in real-time duringthe transit time of the transport craft.
 54. The system of claim 43,wherein the compensation comprises at least one of a rebate of a cost ofthe in-transit communications services provided during the transit time,a refund of the cost of the in-transit communications services providedduring the transit time, a discount for the in-transit communicationsservices during a future trip, providing access to a higher servicelevel at a discounted cost, a loyalty program credit, and a coupon forfood or drink on a future trip.